The martini sign immediately caught my eye and I thought it would look great in the “new ” dining room.

Here’s the wall I needed to fill (the one next to the door):

Here’s how it had looked prior to stenciling:

Those floating shelves were actually there when we purchased the house, and I just left them. It was time for a change.

Back to the martini sign. I knew just one wouldn’t be enough to fill the space proportionately, so I decided to make 3. But what should they say? I’m more of a wino myself, so I brainstormed a few wine names that were around the same length, and ended up with Cabernet, Zinfandel and Pinot Noir (love me some reds!)

Then it was time to figure out how to make them.

I wanted them to be lightweight/easy to hang and relatively flat on the wall, almost more like a metal sign than a chunk of wood. After measuring the wall, I decided that 6″ tall x 2 ft wide was the perfect size.

I headed to Lowe’s and guess what?

Hard to read the label, but it says 1/2″ thick by 6″ wide by 2 ft long. For just $3.43/ea! Lowe’s, you never let me down.

$10 later, I was back home with my boards figuring out how to paint them. Instead of black, I thought a rich brown would suit the look best. I opted for ORB spray paint (which I already had on hand) to make things super easy and add a bit of sheen to jazz them up.

10 minutes later…

Next it was time to apply the letters. I am sans Silhouette Cutter, so I always like to find new ways to apply words to things. I’ve used different methods in the past, including my tea time sign and trash bucket, but I came across yet another method from this blog, using just a pen and paint brush. I’m always up for something new so I decided to try it out.

First: design the signs.

I measured out the size I wanted the text to be:

I left around 1.5″ on all sides.

I chose a basic bus roll-esque font (called BN-67 9010-03… strange, I know) and evenly spaced out the text in an editing program:

I added the boxes around the edges to know where to cut the paper so they all lined up. Since they were larger than 11″, I had to split them up into several pages to fit onto my letter sized paper.

Don’t mind the low on ink streaks

Once everything was printed, I trimmed the edges, positioned them onto the boards and taped in place:

Lovely.

Then it was time to trace.

The instructions said to simply use a ballpoint pen and apply pressure, which will create an indent in the wood for you to fill in with a small paintbrush. This wood is especially soft so it worked quite well.

Luckily, most of my edges were straight so I used a ruler most of the time:

And voila!

Then it was time to paint.

The key is using a small, flat stiff brush for the cleanest line. It’s pretty crucial to have the right tool for this job or the edges will end up sloppy.

I wanted the signs older looking, so I custom mixed an off-white using paints I already had.

On the first sign, I coated the insides of the letters with paint first:

Then came back and smoothed out the edges, following the indentations I had made. This part takes a steady had and lots of time, but I enjoyed it because I find painting therapeutic (not wall painting!).

I posted a sneak preview on Instagram midway through… (if you use instagram, follow me @jennasuedesign!)

Finally, after about an hour per sign, the lettering was complete:

Happy dance.

I liked them the way they were, but wondered if adding a pinstripe border would make them look more finished. I debated for a while, and finally decided to go for it.

Not trusting myself to freehand something so exact, I used painters tape:

And I was digging the results.

Finally, they were all done!

And now, the grand finale reveal of the dining nook.

For fun, let’s revisit the space when we bought the house two years ago:

And that is that! I love seeing the transformation. We’ve come a long way from mirored walls, multiple wallpapers and carpet. And it was all worth it.

Next week I’ll
be getting into the fall spirit with a couple crafty things. Until then, I’ll leave you with a couple random tidbits:

1) I spotted my font on TV for the first time today…

in a Monistat 1 commercial, hah! Too funny/awesome. If only I had a dollar for every time this font was used, sigh.

2). Tomorrow I’m debuting a new line of prints I’ve been working on for a while, and I’m super excited about this one. I’ll be sending out a coupon code just for those who are on my mailing list, so make sure to sign up so you don’t miss it!

That is all. Time to go cuddle with the family. Happy almost-end of summer 🙂

Reader Interactions

Comments

Jenna, I love your dining room!!!! It looks AMAZING! Those signs turned out great 🙂 I might have to try my own variation. I also adore your blog and use your font all the time. Check out my design blog! https://designerinteal.blogspot.com

Jenna, the room looks great! Have you thought about painting the “Eat, Drink, Be Merry” frame ORB to kind of play off the wine signs? Just to have a splash of dark on that wall since you have the wine signs on one and the candle holders on the big wall… Just an idea! 🙂

We just moved into a new (to us) place and we've been removing lots of wallpaper (ugh!). Your dining room has inspired me to work even faster! It's so gorgeous! Great job!! I saw that tip about painting signs, too. Can't wait to try it out.

Didn't think about that! I've already painted the frame white using latex paint so I'm not sure how well the oil based spray paint would stick to it. I don't mind the white so I think I'll leave it that way for now 🙂

Those signs look so nice. Your dining room as a whole looks fantastic! I was excited to see that new product in my inbox just now as well. As far as your font goes…I feel like I have seen it in a few other places too. I think on a Sealy or Serta web advertisement? -Sonya

The signs turned out great! I was actually making some similar ones just yesterday. What editing program do you use to spread the lettering out evenly? I was trying yesterday but couldn't get it – it should be so easy, right? Love your blog!!!

Absolutely beautiful work! I'm glad to hear this transformation took you 2 years. We moved into our place this summer and I need to keep reminding myself that all the remodeling I see online takes a lot longer then the couple posts that people show. Truly great work.

Thanks for the post. You inspired me to make signs that show our family values…but I am not sure if I need to seal them when I am done. What do you recommend? This is my first time painting anything like this so I have no clue! Thanks! -BC

Your dining room is so luxurious and inviting. I love the DIY wine signs, they are simply beautiful and I would never have thought of such as great idea. That would look fantastic in my dining room and the price is right.

Very cute! I’m loving all these DIY projects for signs. I’ve been wanting to make some for my backyard garden, and it seems really easy by the look of your post. I think I’d go for a lighter color of wood, but I’ll be sure to go out and get the supplies today 🙂